Impeach

Trump Makes Impeachable Threat to Create ‘a Crime Mess Like You’ve Never Seen in California’

Posted by on February 22, 2018 at 3:55 pm. 6 Comments :

I know I’ve said this before, but this time this really is the most nauseating thing Donald Trump has ever said. During a White House meeting with state and local officials to discuss school safety, the President lurched off the track to unload a disgusting pile of crap on California.

Donald Trump Impeach

This meeting was supposed to be focused on finding solutions to the tragedy that occurred in Parkland, Florida last week. It was supposed to be about saving children’s lives and making it safe for them to attend school. But Trump couldn’t suppress his vile hatred for anything and anyone that he perceives to be against him. So he diverted from the topic at hand to attack his fellow Americans in California (video below). He began by raising the issue of gangs, describing them as not being “human beings, these are animals.” And he made the ludicrous and obviously false claim that he was “literally getting MS-13 out by the thousands.” Then he disgorged this bit of incoherent bullshit into a room that must have wondered WTF he was talking about:

“We’re getting no help from the state of California. I mean frankly, if I want to pull our people from California you would have a crime mess like you’ve never seen in California. All I’d have to say is ‘ICE and border patrol, leave California alone.’ You’d be inundated. You would see crime like nobody’s ever seen crime in this country. And yet we get no help from the state of California. They are doing a lousy management job. They have the highest taxes in the nation. And they don’t know what’s happening out there. Frankly, it’s a disgrace. The sanctuary city situation. The protection of these horrible criminals.”

Well, that was unexpected. Trump lashed out at one of the most prosperous states in the nation for a gang problem that exists nationwide. And for some reason he took a swipe at California’s tax codes that contribute to its prosperity. And surely he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to yammer about sanctuary cities and make false claims about protecting criminals. But hold on. That wasn’t the worst of it. He continued:

“If we ever pulled our ICE out. If we ever said let California alone, let them figure it out for themselves. In two months they’d be begging for us to come back. They would be begging. And you know what? I’m thinking about doing it.”

Are you freakin’ kidding me? Trump flies off the handle to whine dishonestly about crime and then tells the nation that he’s actually thinking about deliberately creating a “crime mess” just to satisfy his ego and exact vengeance against a state where he has little support? That’s a threat to put Americans in harms way for the petty grievances of a sadistic narcissist. Just the threat of doing that ought to be grounds for impeachment. He took an oath to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” And now he’s saying that he might just decide not to do that.

How could Trump even consider this, much less say it out loud? Where would he get such a disgusting idea? The answer to that is pretty simple. It’s the same place he gets most of his disgusting ideas: Fox News. Just a few hours before this meeting, Fox ran an interview of ICE Director, Tom Homan. In the interview Homan took issue with comments by California’s senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris. They were disturbed by his prior statements threatening to increase immigration enforcement activity and that California had “better hold on tight.” Feinstein and Harris wrote to him saying that “Diverting resources in an effort to punish California and score political points is an abhorrent abuse of power.”

So Trump was obviously watching this unfolding feud on Fox News and decided to weigh in. However his contribution was typically ham-fisted and offensive. His tone of voice when asserting that he was “thinking about doing it,” was dripping with animosity and undisguised hate. But if he ever actually acted on this threat it would just be another count of treason against him. He is the most traitorous, unpatriotic, heathen ever to occupy the White House. And the sooner he is gone, the better for the country.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Warning Signs: Is Donald Trump the Next Mass Murderer? (See Something, Say Something)

Posted by on February 15, 2018 at 11:29 am. 4 Comments :

It is unbelievable that it’s become so redundant and tedious to respond to yet another senseless massacre of children. But that’s where we are now in America. There have been eighteen school shootings so far this year, and it’s only February. And what have our “leaders” done about? Well Republicans have taken millions of dollars from the NRA and passed, with Donald Trump’s signature, a bill making it easier for the mentally ill to buy guns.

Donald Trump AR-15

There are actually ways to prevent these killings, but they are being actively suppressed by right-wing politicians and organizations. They say that after heinous shootings it is “not the right time” to discuss taking deadly weapons of war out of the hands of dangerous miscreants. But apparently, it is always time to offer “thoughts and prayers” (which worked so well the last time?). The callousness of people who refuse to seek common sense solutions are escalating the body count. They insist that there is no gun problem in America, only mental health issues.

The risks imposed by psychological deviants are all too real. But there is more to the matter than that. These sick individuals are helped by arming them with ever more destructive methods of killing. But if conservatives, who love their guns more than they love their kids, aren’t willing to do anything about that, than let’s take a look at those who truly present a danger to our society.

The preindicators for mentally disturbed persons who could pose a risk of becoming the next mass murderer are well documented. And, frighteningly, they are all observable in our president, Donald Trump. We have been told by law enforcement authorities that when we “see something, say something.” So in the spirit of community service it is critical that we take note of these warning signs:

Donald Trump:

  • Has amassed a lethal cache of deadly weapons. And he he’s seeking to expand it even more in his current budget proposal.
  • Has spoken casually of committing grievous crimes of mass violence and the use of nuclear arms: “If we have them, why can’t we use them?”
  • Has posted violent images attacking Hillary Clinton, the media and more on social media.
  • Is filled with resentment toward perceived enemies and yearns for revenge.
  • Incites violence among his followers and even offers to pay their legal fees.
  • Displays a near constant, uncontrollable rage.
  • Feels isolated and threatened by a world that he thinks is out to get him.
  • Has delusions of grandeur and imagined respect.
  • Associates with unsavory characters who share his flaws (i.e. Vladimir Putin, Rob Porter, Bill O’Reilly).
  • Dreams of vindication and making his persecutors sorry.

Allowing someone with these troubling psychological deviancies to remain in a position of power is asking for trouble. Trump tells us almost everyday that he is seething with animosity that could boil over into hostility. And the more he feels pressured and under attack, the more likely he is to explode into a tantrum of hatred and vengeance. That’s especially dangerous since he currently has the worst approval ratings of any president on record. Add to that the fact that is being investigated for serious and impeachable crimes. If ever there was someone who might be viewed as a threat to society, it is Donald Trump. And now that we’ve seen this, it would be irresponsible and potentially catastrophic not to do something about it. #Impeach #25thAmendment

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Desperation in Trump Land: AG Considering a Special Counsel to Investigate Hillary Clinton

Posted by on November 14, 2017 at 9:50 am. 2 Comments :

There is now definitive proof that Donald Trump is stomping around the Oval Office in a white-hot panic. Whether it is Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a newly energized media, or pressure from his Kremlin handlers, Trump is clearly nervous that the truth is getting closer to daylight. Or at least that someone is getting closer to the truth that Trump wants to conceal.

Jeff Sessions Hillary Clinton

We know that Trump’s anxiety is at fever pitch because of the news just out about what’s going on at the Justice Department. His bootlicking attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has heard the call from his master and is giving consideration to a long sought objective of the President. Specifically the realization of the glassy-eyed rally chant “Lock Her Up.” According to reports:

“Attorney General Jeff Sessions is leaving open the possibility that a special counsel could be appointed to look into Hillary Clinton, Clinton Foundation dealings and a uranium deal during the Obama administration among other matters.”

In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, a Justice Department official says Sessions has directed senior federal prosecutors to evaluate concerns raised by Republican lawmakers. The letter says the prosecutors will recommend whether an investigation is merited.”

The whole initiative is the manifestation of delusions harbored by right-wing scam mongers. There have already been numerous investigations into these matters that found no hint of wrongdoing. Despite years of baseless allegations, the Clinton Foundation remains a respected charity that has received the highest scores from philanthropic ratings organizations. The Uranium One matter has been repeatedly debunked by fact checkers.

Trump undoubtedly is buoyed by the ultra-conservatives that dominate the Republican Party and hunger for Clinton’s blood. Many have tried to push the DOJ and Trump to punish the former Secretary of State (and current grandma in Chappaqua). And of course Fox News is contributing to the lynch mob mentality. Sean Hannity has virtually given up his entire show to it. And he isn’t alone. Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends are all in. Fox’s Jeanine Pirro even met with Trump to urge him to proceed with a Clinton prosecution.

But there are other reasons that consideration of persecuting Clinton is ludicrous and brazenly dishonest. For one thing, if Sessions intends to direct his staff to recommend whether an investigation is merited, he will be violating his statement made under oath to Congress:

“Sessions said he had made comments during the ‘contentious’ campaign about Clinton’s use of the email server and her family’s charitable foundation that could place his objectivity in question.”

“‘I believe the proper thing for me to do would be to recuse myself from any questions involving those kind of investigations that involve Secretary Hillary Clinton,’ the Alabama Republican told senators on the Judiciary Committee.”

That’s an unambiguous promise by Sessions to recuse himself from any Clinton investigations. But his stated consideration of appointing a second special counsel overtly breaches that promise. In addition to Sessions’ prior statements, Trump also expressed his disinterest in pursuing any Clinton queries. this what he said last year on the subject:

However, like pretty much everything Trump says, it will eventually be contradicted by something else that Trump says. More recently he has frantically returned to his obsession with Clinton and has been behaving like the tin-horn dictator he aspires to be. Here he is openly and improperly beseeching his Justice Department to go after Clinton despite not feeling strongly about it.

Legal experts will note that Trump’s pressuring the Justice Department violates long-standing protocol to insure the independence of the department. He has no more business asking for investigations or special counsels than he does firing them. It is a blatant abuse of power and potentially impeachable obstruction of justice.

The fact that Sessions now appears to be caving to Trump’s demands to abuse his legal power and prosecute a former political rival speaks to the fear that must be enveloping the White House. He must feel the warm breath of justice on his neck. And he thinks it’s a proper response to attack his political adversaries with the full force of the government he so incompetently leads. That’s what happens in authoritarian regimes ruled by self-absorbed tyrants. The United States must not allow that to happen here. Donald Trump must be impeached before he’s allowed to inflict more harm on the nation – and the world.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Frightened Fox News Pulls ‘Impeach Trump’ Ad After Trump and Viewers Complain

Posted by on November 4, 2017 at 2:49 pm. 1 Comments :

The cable news network that once promised to be “fair and balanced” has demonstrated again that it was never either. Which may be why they ditched that slogan earlier this year. Friday it was revealed that Fox News breached a contract with billionaire activist Tom Steyer to air a commercial advocating the “Need to Impeach” Donald Trump. Steyer had bought airtime on Fox News and the ad did air at least once on Fox and Friends.

Donald Trump Impeach

However, since then Fox News decided to yank the ad despite the fact that the time had already been paid for. They didn’t give Steyer any reason for breaching their contract. They didn’t even tell him they had done so. When Fox News was asked to explain why they pulled they ads they gave a surprisingly inappropriate response:

Jack Abernethy, Fox News co-president: Due to the strong negative reaction to their ad by our viewers, we could not in good conscience take their money.

If that’s true, it is an extraordinary development. It may be the first time that a television network made a programming decision for advertisements based on viewer response. Maybe the TV audience could speak up and get those disgusting cartoon bears that are obsessed with which toilet paper they wipe their cartoon butts with off the air.

More likely, Fox News axed these ads because the content was contrary to their political biases. The propaganda ministry at the network just could not abide an advertisement that made a strong case for removing Trump from office. Add to that the fact that Trump himself had registered his own complaint via Twitter saying:

Steyer appeared on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes on Friday when the subject of the ad came up (video below). He told Hayes about Fox’s action and explicitly called out the network for kowtowing to Trump. Steyer also had his attorneys contact Fox News to seek answers as to why they would unilaterally terminate the contract. The letter they wrote said in part that:

“Fox News abruptly pulled the advertisement without explanation (the ‘Cancellation’). We write to protest this baseless and unethical decision. The Cancellation is not only a breach of your agreement with Mr. Steyer – it is also a profound failure of journalistic integrity, a suppression of constitutionally protected speech, and likely a consequence of inexcusable political pressure.”

There are some good reasons for networks to decline to air certain ads. For instance, if the content is provably false, or if it is deliberately harmful or libelous. Political disagreement is not among the legitimate reasons. That would be censorship. Particularly if the President had a role in the decision.

However, the reasons that Fox News would have are easier to predict. They surely would not want to expose their viewers to this sort of information. And they wouldn’t want to piss off their prime benefactor in the White House. But the excuse that they felt guilty about taking Steyer’s money is patently absurd. That sort of argument would lead to rejecting any ads from Democratic candidates. Their predominantly Republican audience wouldn’t like those either. But maybe that’s precisely the ultra-partisan, spin doctoring that Fox News is aiming for.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

A Million Plus Sign Petition to Impeach Donald Trump as His Polling Hits Record Lows

Posted by on October 31, 2017 at 3:03 pm. NO Comments :

The presidency of Donald Trump has been a disaster from day one. He has never had a majority of the people supporting him since his inauguration. Even before that, he lost the popular vote by about three million voters who preferred Hillary Clinton. His policies on healthcare, immigration, taxes, trade, climate change, and more, are all underwater. But it’s one thing to be unpopular and another to have most people favor impeachment.

Donald Trump

With the indictments of his campaign associates, Trump’s approval rating is bound to fall even more. The most recent surveys do not reflect this breaking news. It’s fair to say that choosing staffers who get arrested for “conspiring against the United States,” and lying to the FBI, will not boost one’s standing in the polls. Currently he has marked new lows on polls by Fox News (38%), NBC/Wall Street Journal (38%), and Gallup (33%).

That assumption was borne out by the response to a recent campaign by billionaire financier and activist, Tom Steyer. He recently launched a website and petition drive based on the “Need to Impeach” Trump for violations of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, obstruction of justice, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. And in less than ten days the petition has been signed by more than a million concerned and patriotic Americans. That’s an astonishing response to the failure of a president who hasn’t completed his first year in office.

This isn’t the first indication of Trump’s weakness as president. On the White House’s own petition site there is one that seeks Trump’s resignation. It has over 137,000 signatures to date. The website promises that all petitions getting over 100,000 signatures would receive a response from the President. It’s been more than seven months since this petition hit that goal, but there’s still no presidential reply. On a separate matter, a petition calling for Trump to release his tax returns has more signatures than any other petition on the site (1,104,746). Trump has ignored this one as well.

In addition to Steyer’s impeachment petition, a poll was just released by Public Policy Polling that asked whether Trump should be impeached. Forty-nine percent said that they support his impeachment. According to the pollsters:

“PPP’s newest national poll finds a record level of support for impeaching Donald Trump. 49% of voters support impeaching him, to 41% who are opposed to doing so. This marks the 6th month in a row we’ve found a plurality of voters in favor of impeaching Trump, and it’s the closest we’ve found to a majority.”

Perhaps even more painful for Trump are the results of questions addressing who people trusted more: Trump or the media. For all six news operations included in the poll, Trump lost by wide margins.

Media Trump
ABC 54 36
CBS 54 36
NBC 54 36
NY Times 54 37
CNN 52 37
Wash Post 52 37

Trump’s tedious and dangerous attacks on the press and the First Amendment have had little effect on the public. Although he has managed to divide his Deplorables from the rest of the American family. And now, as special counsel Robert Mueller continues his investigation, Trump and his cult followers are likely to drift further into the lunatic abyss. There are reports that he is becoming unglued as legal walls close in around him. All of that could make him even more dangerous than ever. And that, of course, makes impeachment all the more justified and necessary before it’s too late.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Crybaby Trump Takes the Bait – Replies to “Impeach Trump” Ad that Ran on Fox News

Posted by on October 27, 2017 at 3:56 pm. 4 Comments :

The current regrettable President of the United States has repeatedly shown that he spends more time watching Fox News than presidenting. Coming in second is golf. Third is tweeting about Hillary Clinton and the election a year ago. In fact, being president probably isn’t in the top ten. It has been proven that Donald Trump is faithfully glued to his TV, especially in the morning, and reacts in real time with idiotic tweets.

Donald Trump Impeach

That pattern was in evidence Friday morning after an unusual advertisement aired during Trump’s favorite TV show, Fox and Friends. Tom Steyer is a billionaire who has been active in the environmental movement and liberal politics in general. He recently started a campaign to get Congress on the record with regard to Trump’s mental unfitness to serve. He launched the “Need To Impeach” website to inform and gather support. It includes a video that describes Trump as “a clear and present danger who’s mentally unstable and armed with nuclear weapons.” The video begins with a chilling list of particulars:

“He’s brought us to the brink of nuclear war, obstructed justice at the FBI, and in direct violation of the Constitution, has taken money from foreign governments and threatened to shut down news organizations that report the truth. If that isn’t a case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president, then what has out government become?”

Steyer’s campaign began a week ago with a $10 million budget. It has gotten attention from a variety of media, with the unsurprising exception of Fox News. Trump himself has completely ignored this, despite it being precisely the sort of thing that stirs his giblets. Any attack is usually met with a juvenile retort on Twitter. But the bully-in-chief has been uncharacteristically mum on this assault from an elite lefty. Until now.

Friday morning Steyer’s video ran as an ad during Fox and Friends. Steyer was likely not under the impression that this ad would change the so-called minds of many Fox viewers. But there was one viewer whose attention it would surely grab. The President, of course, was up watching the show and saw the ad. We know that he doesn’t watch much of anything else, and his handlers keep him in the dark as much as possible. Consequently, this is likely the first he heard of it. And it didn’t please him. Shortly after the ad aired, Trump was tweeting about it:

You’ll notice that Trump’s response consisted of two primary points. First of all, he had to unleash a typically childish insult on “whacky” Tom Steyer. Secondly, he focused on horse-race politics rather than anything of substance. What Trump did not include in his response was any refutation of the facts that Steyer laid out.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

However, what’s most notable about this is that Steyer has demonstrated the best way to get under Trump’s thin and wrinkled skin. The President is notoriously sheltered in his wannabe dictator bubble and has little access to unfiltered criticism. His caretakers meticulously strip any bad news from the briefings they permit him to receive. But if it’s run on Fox and Friends he’s gonna see it and react. Therefore, that should become the preferred method of reaching Trump for critics, Democrats in Congress, and the media. So the next time Rachel Maddow has a question for Trump, she should just put it on video and buy a spot on Fox News.

Lying Trump confidant inadvertently makes case for Trump’s impeachment on Fox News

Posted by on October 14, 2017 at 2:17 pm. 3 Comments :

Republicans are known to be fond of making brash and false accusations about Democrats. In fact, it’s an obsession. They generally deploy this tactic when they are desperate to create a distraction from something horrible they did or said. And lucky for them, they have Fox News to broadcast their diversions and lies to millions of their glassy-eyed disciples.

Fox News

A perfect example of this took place Saturday morning on Fox and Friends. The “Curvy Couch” potatoes invited Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, and devoted bootlicker, Corey Lewandowski to talk about a variety of current events (video below). Among them were the allegations against Trump for sexual harassment and abuse. The segment featured a graphic that said “HRC Falsely Claims Trump is “Sexual Assaulter.” But the claim is factual based on Trump’s own words. They played video of Hillary Clinton’s BBC interview pointing out the similarities of Trump’s behavior to that of Harvey Weinstein. She correctly noted that:

“This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated anywhere. Whether it’s in entertainment, politics… After all we have someone admitting to being a sexual assaulter in the Oval Office.”

Indeed. No one should be excused from committing these atrocious acts, Democrat or Republican. But that’s not how Fox News sees it. Not only did Trump admit to his abuse, at least a dozen women have come forward with credible allegations. But Clinton’s remarks set Lewandowski off on a tangent that hardly exonerates Trump:

“There was a sexual assaulter in the White House and he was called Bill Clinton. He had to pay a $750,000 fine for abuses that he perpetrated while he was President of the United States. He was disbarred. He lost his law license. He lied under oath and he was impeached.”

First of all, let’s address the cluster of outright lies in Lewandowski’s comment. Nearly everything he said was demonstrably false. Politico covered these claims last year and debunked all of them:

“[Paula] Jones sued Clinton for allegedly exposing himself to her in a hotel room in 1991. The Jones suit, which went all the way to the Supreme Court, was ultimately dismissed by a judge on the grounds Jones could not show damages. While it was on appeal, Bill Clinton paid $850,000 to settle the suit without admitting liability.” […]

“An earlier version of this piece falsely stated that Bill Clinton was disbarred and prohibited from practicing law in Arkansas and in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, Clinton’s law license was suspended in Arkansas and he resigned from the Supreme Court bar; he was not disbarred.”

So the incident Lewandowski referred to did not happen while Clinton was president. The payment was a settlement, not a fine. There was no judicial finding against him. He was never disbarred. The House of Representatives did impeach Clinton, but that’s a political action, not a legal one. And the Senate declined to convict or remove him from office.

Lewandowski unleashed a tortured stream of lies to divert attention away from Trump’s gross and illegal behavior. But his argument wasn’t that Trump was innocent. Only that Clinton was guilty. What’s more, he seemed to agree with the punishment he wrongly asserted was carried out against Clinton. Therefore, he is essentially advocating that punishment for anyone guilty of these crimes. Presumably that includes his buddy in the White House. In other words, he’s in favor of fining and impeaching Trump. A plurality of Americans agree.

Of course, to expect an ultra-partisan hack like Lewandowski to grasp the logical extensions of his own argument may be too much to ask. And even if he did, he would likely struggle to find an exception for his right-wing confederates. Democrats weren’t shy about denouncing the behavior of Clinton or Weinstein. It’s too bad that Republicans can’t do the same about Trump. After all, as Fox’s Abby Huntsman said at the end of this segment: “It’s so important to point out the hypocrisy.” Of course, she was referring only to Democrats.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

[The Clinton discussion begins at about 3:50]

Moron Trump Turns Out to Be a Chicken, Backs Out of IQ Challenge With Sec. Tillerson

Posted by on October 10, 2017 at 2:33 pm. NO Comments :

Late last week NBC News revealed that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had openly disparaged Donald Trump as a “f*cking moron.” The surprisingly accurate analysis came during a meeting at the Pentagon in July according to three sources. Tillerson later held an unprecedented press conference to refute the charge that his boss is frighteningly dumb. However, he forgot the actual refutation and never denied that he made the statement.

Donald Trump Chicken

It’s notable that there was almost no one defending Trump’s alleged intelligence following Tillerson’s honest appraisal. However, Trump himself finally addressed it in an interview with Forbes Magazine, saying:

“I think it’s fake news, but if he did that, I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.”

This would not exactly be an epic contest of wits. Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he is woefully deprived in the smarts department. He has the vocabulary of a third grader and cannot seem to retain or comprehend simple facts. An IQ test would resolve this controversy in the “reality show” manner that Trump is accustomed to. And it would give Tillerson an opportunity to prove that Trump’s insult to his intelligence was fake news. Never mind that Trump has previously demeaned Tillerson by stating that his diplomatic efforts were a “waste of time.”

Unfortunately, the big competition has already been called off. Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was asked about the event at the White House press briefing. She advised that the President just “made a joke, nothing more than that.” He never intended to take on Tillerson. Which is a shame because the Mensa Institute had offered to sponsor the event.

Had this match gone on it would have been another fiasco for Trump. He has recently been squabbling with the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker. Corker expressed concern that Trump’s White House was on the verge of chaos. Trump replied with a flurry of furious tweets. But Corker had the last word when he tweeted back saying:

Corker elaborated in a statement to the New York Times. He said that Trump’s behavior “concerned” him and that he feared the President was putting the nation “on the path to World War III.” He also made note of Trump’s tendency to lie, saying “I don’t know why the president tweets out things that are not true.” And he implied that he was not alone in harboring these concerns. “I know for a fact,” Corker said, “that every single day at the White House, it’s a situation of trying to contain him.”

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

These comments should worry every American. If a conservative Republican is this nervous about a president from his own party, there is likely a fire raging under that smoke. It’s time for Corker and his GOP colleagues to stop complaining about the imminent danger Trump represents and do something about it. They don’t have to wait for special counsel Robert Mueller’s report to begin impeachment hearings.

GOP Chair Lies to CNN Saying ‘Women Never Came Forward’ to Report Trump’s Sexual Abuse

Posted by on October 9, 2017 at 2:48 pm. 5 Comments :

Let’s get one thing straight at the start. Harvey Weinstein’s actions were inexcusable. They were gross and demeaning and exploitative. He was right to apologize and seek professional help. But that wasn’t enough. It was also right for the board of directors of the company he founded to fire him.

Donald Trump

In light of that, it is downright nauseating that the chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna Romney McDaniel, would turn up on CNN and dismiss the grotesque behavior of Donald Trump by comparing him favorably to Weinstein. Trump is actually much worse. In an interview with Wolf Blitzer (video below), McDaniel had the gall to assert that:

“It’s not even comparable. Harvey Weinstein brought women into his hotel room. I mean to even make that comparison is disrespectful to the President. He didn’t have eight settlements. He didn’t have women coming forward. Harvey Weinstein admits that he did that.”

It’s not even comparable? Everything that McDaniel specified regarding Weinstein is directly comparable to Trump. Her statement that “He didn’t have women coming forward” was a blatant lie. At least a dozen women have come forward with accusations about Trump’s abusiveness. McDaniel also lied about there being no settlements. Numerous women have filed complaints against Trump that resulted in settlements that Trump legally suppressed with binding non-disclosure clauses. He used the same tactic to hide complaints that never made it to a courtroom. Despite these obvious similarities, McDaniel went on to explain the alleged differences anyway. But she directly responded only to the infamous “pussy grabbing” videotape:

“Here’s the difference, Wolf. The President apologized for that and many Republicans came out and said those comments were not appropriate. The difference is that Harvey Weinstein is a major bundler for the DNC. They have embraced him him. He has admitted to these instances when he put women in a completely inappropriate situations. That he was a sexual predator.”

Once again, in each specific reference made by McDaniel the differences she asserts are only visible to someone who is purposefully dishonest. In his belligerent “apology” Trump mainly said he was sorry for having been caught. He never apologized to his victims. And he quickly changed the subject to attack Bill and Hillary Clinton. While some Republicans did repudiate his comments, many actually defended him. And Trump is unarguably the most prolific bundler of campaign financing for the GOP. They embrace him even though he admitted to being a sexual predator.

The only real difference is that Weinstein is now unemployed and Trump continues to reside in the White House (when he isn’t at one of his golf resorts, that is). Republicans are perfectly agreeable to allowing Republican perverts to retain the powerful positions they hold if they make an insincere apology. But if you’re a Democrat you must be impeached and all other Democrats must renounce everything you ever did or said.

The hypocrisy is on an atomic scale. If McDaniel and her party had any sliver of integrity they would abandon their support for Trump and demand that he resign. And they have plenty of other reasons for doing so. Trump is not only a monstrous sexual deviant. He is a traitor for his collusion with Russia to subvert our democracy. He is also corrupt financially as he unconstitutionally enriches himself through his government position. And his reckless incompetence is an imminent danger to the nation and the world by inciting nuclear conflicts with both North Korea and Iran. Have there ever been more reasons to impeach a president than Trump has provided in less than a year in office?

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Impeachment Talk Spurs Fox News and Right-Wing Media to Ask Anti-Trump States to Secede

Posted by on June 1, 2017 at 4:24 pm. 8 Comments :

The Trump Train is continuing on its collision course with history. Each new day brings with it more evidence that Donald Trump and Company had distinctly unsavory connections to Russian operatives. Their complicity with the documented proof that Russia tampered with our presidential election is becoming impossible to credibly deny.

Donald Trump

Not surprisingly, as the evidence grows, so does the prospect of impeachment. While Congress has only dipped its toes into the subject, across the country there are municipalities that are diving in. Newsweek is reporting that the movement is gaining steam:

“Last Thursday Brookline, Massachusetts, became the latest in a list of nearly a dozen American cities demanding the country’s top lawmakers examine whether the president is breaking government rules barring public officials from enriching themselves with foreign money.”

Los Angeles is among the cities that have passed resolutions calling on Congress to commence hearings. Chicago is currently debating their own proposal. And the grounds for the President’s removal from office are expanding as well. It’s no longer just issues related to the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause. Though that would be more than enough. Obstruction of Justice and espionage are rapidly becoming plausible charges.

The roster of legal heavyweights making the case for impeachment is impressive and bipartisan. They include constitutional lawyer and Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe, Obama’s former chief ethics counsel Norman Eisen, and the same staffer in George W. Bush’s administration, Prof. Richard Painter.

Naturally, this is where Fox News steps in to paper over scandalous activities with trite and absurd diversions. On Fox’s community website, Fox Nation, they posted a link to an article in the “Moonie” Washington Times. It sported the tabloidy headline, “Massachusetts, California, Take Your Anti-Trumpness and Secede.“. The author, Cheryl K. Chumley, took the well worn path of insisting that Trump has “not committed any offense that’s impeachable.” But that’s irrelevant because it is the purpose of the hearings to ascertain whether an impeachable offense occurred. And there are mountains of evidence that justify holding such hearings. Chumley continued in a snarky manner saying that:

“Elizabeth Warren can be queen, Bernie Sanders, king. And all the subjects can band together to grow their own food and stitch together clothing items from oak tree leaves and orange peels and create grand pronouncements against Trump to distribute amongst themselves and discuss.” […]

“Why suffer to live among a Trump nation? Massachusetts, California: Just take your anti-Trump campaigns and go. Don’t look back; don’t let the door hit you. […] In the name of peace, it’s a sacrifice we’re willing to make.”

First of all, Chumley’s juvenile characterization of these two states ignores the reality of their place in the country. Sure, there may be some crunchy types who value nature and good health, but is that a bad thing? Plus, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are nationally beloved figures who represent the best of democratic leadership.

More to the point, these are two of the most modern, technologically advanced states in the union. Massachusetts is the home of Harvard and MIT. California’s Silicon Valley is the world capital of all things digital. And both states economically surpass most of the rest of the nation. They excel in industry, agriculture, defense, education, and tourism. So stick that in your granola and pour almond milk on it.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

The loss of these states to the union would be devastating. They pay the bills for much of the debt-ridden southern and mid-west states. If California were an independent nation it would be the sixth richest in the world with a healthy, diversified economy. Chumley’s article, therefore, does nothing but prove that she is an ill-informed and incompetent columnist. Which is probably how she got the job at the Washington Times in the first place. And Fox News had better hope that these states never take the suggestion of secession seriously. Because they just may find it an appealing opportunity.